Variegated building product and method

ABSTRACT

An injection molded product is disclosed and includes a shingle resembling a cedar shingle tile formed from an amorphous or semi-crystalline thermoplastic and having a wood grain direction. The injection molded product also includes streaks in the shingle that are substantially parallel to the wood grain direction and the streaks extend through an interior of the shingle and appear as contrasting streaks on an exterior of the shingle to form a variegated wood grain appearance. The injection molded product further includes an injection molded vestige in the shingle. The injection molded vestige is located adjacent to a perimeter of the shingle and the injection molded vestige comprises a location at which material entered an injection mold through a gate.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of and claims priority to U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 14/202,032, filed Mar. 10, 2014, entitled“VARIEGATED BUILDING PRODUCT AND METHOD”, and naming as inventors RobertD. SHAW et al., which claims priority to and the benefit of U.S.Provisional Patent Application No. 61/794,479, filed Mar. 15, 2013,entitled “VARIEGATED BUILDING PRODUCT AND METHOD”, and naming asinventors Robert D. SHAW et al., of which both applications are assignedto the current assignee hereof and incorporated herein by reference intheir entireties.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the Disclosure

The present invention relates in general to building products and, inparticular, to an improved system, method and apparatus for variegatedbuilding products.

Description of the Related Art

Building products such as vinyl siding panels and roofing tiles arewidely used for protecting the exterior walls and roofs of buildings,respectively, as well as for enhancing the exterior appearance ofbuildings. These building products may have different profiles andexterior finishes to provide variety in the exterior appearance of abuilding. Typically, the siding panels and roofing tiles are nailed orotherwise secured to the building to fix them in place.

Formerly, in constructing vinyl siding panels, it was customary toextrude a sheet of vinyl with the entire profile formed therein, and tothen cut the sheet of vinyl into panels of appropriate lengths. Thesheet utilized conventional color concentrators designed to give it adesired coloration properties. The sheets could also be embossed orotherwise formed to add ornamentation to more closely simulate naturalwood building products.

Some siding is post-formed vinyl siding, in which the siding is extrudedas a flat sheet and then formed into the desired shape in post formingoperations. Rather than forming solid vinyl siding panels, other sidingproducts are co-extruded panels having a base substrate and an outerlayer. The outer layer is commonly called a capstock. The substratelayer is hidden from view when the siding is applied to a building, andis typically formed of conventional, relatively inexpensive but sturdypolyvinyl chloride (PVC). The substrate typically utilizes conventionalcolor concentrators designed to give it a desired coloration properties.The outer layer forms the exposed or outer component of the vinylproduct.

Existing products are limited to extruded siding or plank products.There is a need for variegated products that are produced by injectionmolding. Current methods for producing multi-color woodgrain appearanceinclude applied films and coatings. However these products arechallenged by long term durability performance issues such ascolor-hold, adhesion and abrasion.

Other options include extruded capstock that may be formed of the samecomposition as the substrate and may include a color material that formsaccent color streaks. These methods can produce variegated siding panelshaving a natural, wood grain-like appearance. It would be desirable toproduce a variegated building product using injection molding equipment.

SUMMARY

Embodiments of a system, method and apparatus for variegated buildingproducts are disclosed. For example, a method of molding a buildingproduct may comprise providing an injection mold with a plurality ofgates located adjacent a perimeter of the injection mold. The method mayfurther comprise commingling a first material and a second material intoa flow. The second material may comprise a color that contrasts with acolor of the first material.

Embodiments of the method may include injecting the commingled flow intothe plurality of gates to form an injection molded building product, andremoving the molded building product from the injection mold. Inaddition, the second material may extend through an interior of themolded building product and appear as contrasting streaks on an exteriorof the building product to form a variegated grain appearance.

Other embodiments of a method of molding a building product may compriseproviding an injection mold with a first gate and a second gate, whereineach of the first and second gates is located adjacent a perimeter ofthe injection mold. The method may include injecting a first materialinto the first gate, and injecting a second material into the secondgate at about a same time as the first material. The first and secondmaterials may be substantially simultaneously co-injected into theinjection mold. The second material may comprise a color that contrastswith a color of the first material. The second material may extendthrough an interior of the molded building product and appear ascontrasting streaks on an exterior of the building product to form avariegated grain appearance.

Embodiments of an injection molded product may comprise a shingleresembling a cedar shingle tile formed from an amorphous orsemi-crystalline thermoplastic and having a wood grain direction.Streaks in the shingle may be substantially parallel to the wood graindirection. The streaks may extend through an interior of the shingle andappear as contrasting streaks on an exterior of the shingle to form avariegated wood grain appearance. In addition, there may be injectionmolded vestiges in the shingle. All of the injection molded vestiges maybe located adjacent a perimeter of the shingle. The injection moldedvestiges may comprise the locations at which material entered aninjection mold through edge gates.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of these embodiments willbe apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art in view of thefollowing detailed description, taken in conjunction with the appendedclaims and the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

So that the manner in which the features and advantages of theembodiments are attained and can be understood in more detail, a moreparticular description may be had by reference to the embodimentsthereof that are illustrated in the appended drawings. However, thedrawings illustrate only some embodiments and therefore are not to beconsidered limiting in scope as there may be other equally effectiveembodiments.

FIG. 1 is a schematic front view of an apparatus for producing anembodiment of an injection molded product.

FIG. 2 is an enlarged schematic end view of a portion of an embodimentof an injection molding apparatus and process.

FIG. 3 is a schematic view of an embodiment of building product.

FIGS. 4 and 5 are schematic front views of an embodiment of a moldbefore and after, respectively, material is injected.

FIG. 6 is an isometric view of another embodiment of an injection mold.

The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicatessimilar or identical items.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Embodiments of a system, method and apparatus for variegated buildingproducts are disclosed. Examples of the building product may include ashingle, such as a cedar shingle or shake tile and having a wood graindirection (e.g., vertical in FIGS. 1 and 2). Alternatively, the buildingproduct 11 can be a roofing tile (or still other building products)having a grain direction. For example, the building product 11 maysimulate other materials such as simulated slate with a general graindirection.

In some embodiments, the method may comprise and the building productmay be formed from a one or two-shot process. Embodiments of molding abuilding product 11 (FIGS. 1-5) may comprise providing an injection mold13 (shown schematically) with a plurality of gates 15 located adjacent aperimeter 17 of the injection mold 13. Adjacent the perimeter 17 mayinclude at or on the perimeter 17. The materials used to form thebuilding product may be commingled prior to entering the mold, or theymay enter the mold separately or independently, such that they do notcommingle until they are inside the mold.

As portrayed in FIGS. 1 and 2, the method also may include commingling afirst material 21 and a second material 23 into one or more runners 27prior to entering the mold 13. The second material 23 may comprise acolor that contrasts with a color of the first material 21.

Embodiments of commingling may comprise intentionally not mixing thefirst and second materials 21, 23, such that any mixing that does takeplace is incidental and unintended. The method may include injecting thecommingled flow into the plurality of gates 15 to form an injectionmolded building product 11. The molded building product 11 may then beremoved from the injection mold 13.

As shown in FIG. 3, the second material 23 may extend through aninterior of the molded building product 11 and appear as contrastingstreaks on an exterior of the building product 11 to form a variegatedwood grain appearance. The contrasting streaks in the shake, roofingtile or other building product can be substantially parallel to theintended wood grain direction 22.

In some embodiments, both the first and second materials 21, 23 may bean amorphous or semi-crystalline thermoplastic, or a thermoset material.The first material 21 may be a solid at room temperature, and the secondmaterial 23 may be a liquid at room temperature, or both materials maybe solid at room temperature. The first material 21 may have a meltingpoint that is less than a melting point of the second material 23. Forexample, the melting point of the first material 21 may be about 20° F.to about 70° F. less than the melting point of the second material 23.

Embodiments of the first material may comprise a selected amount of abase resin, or a compounded material comprising a mixture of two or morematerials. For example, the first material may comprise about 85 wt % toabout 97 wt % of a base resin. The first material 21 may comprise a baseresin, and the second material 23 may comprise a colorant that has amelting point similar to that of the base resin. The term ‘colorant’ maybe defined as a pure pigment, a concentrate or a diluted compound.

Alternatively, the first material 21 may comprise a base resin, and mayfurther comprise a third material comprising a high melt streaker of asame polymer group as that of the base resin. The third material maymelt at a higher temperature than that of the base resin. The method andbuilding product may further comprise a blend of the high melt streakerand a fourth material. The fourth material may comprise a standard meltstreaker of a same polymer group as that of the base resin. The fourthmaterial may melt at a temperature between those of the base resin andthe high melt streaker. These materials may comprise different polymergroups as well.

In still other embodiments, the method and building product may have acommingled flow that comprises about 0.1% to about 5% colorant, such asabout 1%. Embodiments of the commingled flow may comprise about 0.1% toabout 5% of the high melt streaker, such as about 1%. In addition, thecommingled flow may comprise about 0.5% to about 5% of the blend, suchas about 2%, or up to about 10%, up to about 20%, or even up to about30%. Examples of the blend may include a ratio of about 30/70 to about70/30 (e.g., 50/50) of the high melt streaker and the standard meltstreaker, respectively. Examples of the base resin may includepolypropylene. The melting point of the high melt streaker can be atleast about 30° F. higher than that of the base resin. The melting pointof the standard melt streaker can be at least about 20° F. higher thanthat of the base resin.

In some examples, the gates 15 may be spaced apart from each by no morethan about 100 mm For example, the gate spacing may be no more thanabout 90 mm, such as no more than about 80 mm The gates 15 may belocated on a single side of the perimeter 17 of the injection mold 13,as shown in FIG. 1. In other versions, the gates 15 may be located onopposing sides of the perimeter 17 of the injection mold 13.

The injection mold 13 may comprise a cavity located within the perimeter17. Embodiments of the cavity may generally be in a shape of a flatpanel. The flat panel may have a largest dimension L (FIG. 1). Each ofthe gates 15 may be located within about one-fourth of the largestdimension L from the perimeter 17 of the injection mold 13. The methodmay comprise having substantially linear commingled flow through theflat panel of the cavity away from the gates 15.

In some examples, the gates 15 may be located in a hanger portion 25 ofthe mold 13. Any vestiges (e.g., remnants or evidence) of the injectionmolding process can be removed. In some embodiments, at least one of thegates 15 is an edge gate. For example, in FIGS. 1 and 2, two edge gateswith runners 27 are shown.

The method may further comprise forming injection molded vestiges in themolded building product 11. In some versions, all of the injectionmolded vestiges may be located adjacent the perimeter 17. The injectionmolded vestiges may comprise the locations at which the commingled flowentered the injection mold 13 through the gates 15. The method mayfurther comprise trimming the molded building product 11 after it isremoved from the mold, such that the trimmed molded building product hasno projecting injection molded vestiges.

Other embodiments of method may comprise a two-shot process. Forexample, the method of molding a building product may comprise providingan injection mold 33 (FIG. 6) with at least one first gate 35 and atleast one second gate 37 (e.g., two are shown). Each of the first andsecond gates 35, 37 may be located adjacent a perimeter 17 of theinjection mold 33.

The method may include injecting a first material into the first gate35, and injecting a second material into the second gate 37 at about asame time as the first material. The first and second materials may besubstantially simultaneously co-injected into the injection mold 33. Thesecond material may comprise a color that contrasts with a color of thefirst material. The molded building product may then be removed from theinjection mold 33. The second material may extend through an interior ofthe molded building product and appear as contrasting streaks on anexterior of the building product to form a variegated wood grainappearance. The materials, properties, colors, dimensions and otheraspects and qualities of the components may be provided as describedelsewhere herein for the other embodiments.

As described herein, embodiments of a building product may be producedby a one-shot method, a two-shot method, or multiple shot methods. Theinjection molded product may comprise a shake resembling a cedar shaketile formed from an amorphous or semi-crystalline thermoplastic andhaving a wood grain direction. Streaks may be provided in the shake thatare substantially parallel to the wood grain direction. The streaks mayextend through an interior of the shake and appear as contrastingstreaks on an exterior of the shake to form a variegated wood grainappearance.

Embodiments may include injection molded vestiges in the shake. Forexample, all of the injection molded vestiges may be located adjacent aperimeter of the shake. The injection molded vestiges may comprise thelocations at which material entered an injection mold through gates. Theshake may be trimmed such that the trimmed shake has no projectinginjection molded vestiges. The shake may comprise a single cedar shaketile (e.g., like FIG. 3). The shake also may comprise a plurality oftiles (e.g., FIG. 1) that appear to be separated, but are not actuallyseparated, from each other by tile separations along at least one sideedge or at least one end edge thereof. For example, at least two of theplurality of tiles may appear to be at least partially overlapping, butare not actually overlapping, each other, as shown.

As described herein, a plurality of colors may be used to form thebuilding product, such as with resin pellets. The term “resin” is notparticularly limited and may include a polymer, plastic, and the like,which may be thermoplastic or thermosetting. The term “pellets” is usedherein in a broad sense to include any type of pellets, granules,regrind, powder, particles, grains, spheres, plates, etc., that can beused in the method. The pellets are not particularly limited and mayhave any shape and size including any elongation (length/width),convexity (surface roughness), and circularity (perimeter). For example,the pellets can be between about 3/32-inch and about ⅛-inch in diameterand can be square, rectangular, spherical, etc. It is contemplated thatone or more of these pellet sizes may vary from the values and/or rangeof values above by selected percentages.

Embodiments of the resin pellets used to form the building product mayinclude base color pellets including a base polymer and having a basecolor, first color pellets including a first polymer and having a firstcolor, and second color pellets including a second polymer and having asecond color. The base polymer, the first polymer, and the secondpolymer may be the same or may be different. The base color pellets, thefirst color pellets, and the second color pellets, independently mayinclude one or more of the base polymer, the first polymer, the secondpolymer, and combinations thereof.

The polymers can each independently be, for example, a polyalkylenepolymer, such as polypropylene or polyethylene. Non-limiting examples ofsuitable polyethylene include ultra high molecular weight polyethylene(UHMWPE), ultra low molecular weight polyethylene (ULMWPE), highmolecular weight polyethylene (HMWPE), high density polyethylene (HDPE),high density cross-linked polyethylene (HDXLPE), cross-linkedpolyethylene (PEX or XLPE), medium density polyethylene (MDPE), linearlow density polyethylene (LLDPE), low density polyethylene (LDPE), verylow density polyethylene (VLDPE), and combinations thereof. Moreover,the polymers may each independently include other polymers or mixturesthereof, such as acrylics, silicones, polyurethanes, halogenatedplastics, polyester, polyethylene terephthalate, polyvinyl chloride(PVC), polystyrene, polyamides, polycarbonate, phenolics,polyetheretherketone, polyetherimide, polylactic acid,polymethylmethacrylate, polytetrafluoroethylene, and combinationsthereof.

One or more of the polymers can be opaque, translucent, or transparentbefore having the base color, first color, and second color,respectively. In addition, these polymers are not particularly limitedin physical properties such as tensile strength, hardness, elongation,density, glass transition temperature, and the like. One or more of thepolymers can be filled (e.g. mineral filled) or unfilled. Non-limitingexamples of suitable fillers include magnesium, phosphorus, calcium, andcombinations thereof. In addition, one or more of the base polymer, thefirst polymer, and the second polymer can include one or more additivesincluding, but not limited to, oxidative and thermal stabilizers, impactmodifiers, lubricants, release agents, flame-retarding agents, oxidationinhibitors, oxidation scavengers, neutralizers, antiblock agents, dyes,pigments and other coloring agents, ultraviolet light absorbers andstabilizers, organic or inorganic fillers, reinforcing agents,nucleators, plasticizers, waxes, and combinations thereof. Mosttypically, at least one of the base polymer, the first polymer, and thesecond polymer is fire resistant, e.g., includes a flame-retardingagent.

The colors may be generated, or formed from/using, any dye or pigment orother colorant known in the art. The colors are different. Typically,the first colorant and the second colorant may be relatively dark andrelatively light compared to each other. However, in the alternative tobeing different shades of the same color, the first colorant and thesecond colorant can have different colors. For example, the base color,the first color, and the second color may be such that the colorvariations are various shades of grey with varying grey streaks tosimulate wood shake.

Alternatively, the base color, the first color, and the second color maycreate any type of color variation by embodiments of the method toachieve a color variation simulating a natural building material such aswood, stone, brick, marble, ceramic, clay, slate, brick, metal,concrete, etc. The building product can be generally categorized intoone of various color variations; however, each building product may havea slightly different appearance. In other words, even though eachbuilding product can be categorized, each building product may have aunique appearance caused by streaks that are randomly oriented on thebuilding product and can have varying shades of colors.

In still other embodiments, one or more of the following items may beincluded.

Item 1. A method of injection molding a building product, comprising:

(a) providing an injection mold with a plurality of gates locatedadjacent a perimeter of the injection mold;

(b) commingling a first material and a second material into a flow, thesecond material comprising a color that contrasts with a color of thefirst material;

(c) injecting the commingled flow into the plurality of gates to form aninjection molded building product;

(d) removing the molded building product from the injection mold; and

-   -   the second material extends through an interior of the molded        building product and appears as contrasting streaks on an        exterior of the building product to form a variegated grain        appearance.

Item 2. The method of item 1, wherein both the first and secondmaterials are an amorphous or semi-crystalline thermoplastic, or athermoset material.

Item 3. The method of item 1, wherein the first material is a solid atroom temperature and the second material is a liquid at roomtemperature, or both materials are solid at room temperature.

Item 4. The method of item 1, wherein the first material has a meltingpoint that is less than a melting point of the second material.

Item 5. The method of item 1, wherein the melting point of the firstmaterial is about 20° F. to about 70° F. less than the melting point ofthe second material.

Item 6. The method of item 1, wherein the first material comprises abase resin or a compounded material.

Item 7. The method of item 1, wherein the first material comprises abase resin, and the second material comprises a colorant that has amelting point similar to that of the base resin.

Item 8. The method of item 1, wherein the first material comprises abase resin, and further comprising a third material comprising a highmelt streaker of a same or different polymer group as that of the baseresin, and the third material melts at a higher temperature than that ofthe base resin.

Item 9. The method of item 8, further comprising a blend of the highmelt streaker and a fourth material, the fourth material comprising astandard melt streaker of a same polymer group as that of the baseresin, and the fourth material melts at a temperature between those ofthe base resin and the high melt streaker.

Item 10. The method of item 7, wherein the commingled flow comprisesabout 0.1% to about 5% colorant, up to about 10% colorant, up to about20% colorant, or up to about 30% colorant.

Item 11. The method of item 8, wherein the commingled flow comprisesabout 0.1% to about 5% of the high melt streaker.

Item 12. The method of item 9, wherein the commingled flow comprisesabout 0.5% to about 5% of the blend.

Item 13. The method of item 9, wherein the blend is in a ratio of about30/70 to about 70/30 of the high melt streaker and the standard meltstreaker, respectively.

Item 14. The method of item 9, wherein the base resin is polypropylene,the melting point of the high melt streaker is at least about 30° F.higher than that of the base resin, and the melting point of thestandard melt streaker is at least about 20° F. higher than that of thebase resin.

Item 15. The method of item 1, wherein the building product is a shingleresembling a cedar shingle tile and having a wood grain direction, or aroofing tile having the wood grain direction, and the contrastingstreaks in the shake are substantially parallel to the wood graindirection.

Item 16. The method of item 1, wherein the gates are spaced apart fromeach other by no more than about 100 mm, no more than about 90 mm, or nomore than about 80 mm.

Item 17. The method of item 1, wherein the gates are located on a singleside of the perimeter of the injection mold, or wherein the gates arelocated on opposing sides of the perimeter of the injection mold.

Item 18. The method of item 1, wherein the injection mold comprises acavity located within the perimeter, the cavity is generally in a shapeof a flat panel, the flat panel has a largest dimension, and each of thegates is located within about one-fourth of the largest dimension fromthe perimeter of the injection mold.

Item 19. The method of item 1, wherein at least one of the gates is anedge gate.

Item 20. The method of item 18, wherein step (c) comprises substantiallylinear commingled flow through the flat panel of the cavity away fromthe gates.

Item 21. The method of item 1, further comprising forming injectionmolded vestiges in the molded building product, all of the injectionmolded vestiges are located adjacent the perimeter, and the injectionmolded vestiges comprise the locations at which the commingled flowentered the injection mold through the gates.

Item 22. The method of item 21, further comprising the step of trimmingthe molded building product after step (d) such that the trimmed moldedbuilding product has no projecting injection molded vestiges.

Item 23. A method of injection molding a building product, comprising:

(a) providing an injection mold with a first gate and a second gate,wherein each of the first and second gates is located adjacent aperimeter of the injection mold;

(b) injecting a first material into the first gate;

(c) injecting a second material into the second gate at about a sametime as step (b), such that the first and second materials aresubstantially simultaneously co-injected into the injection mold, andthe second material comprises a color that contrasts with a color of thefirst material;

(d) removing the molded building product from the injection mold; and

-   -   the second material extends through an interior of the molded        building product and appears as contrasting streaks on an        exterior of the building product to form a variegated grain        appearance.

Item 24. The method of item 23, wherein both the first and secondmaterials are an amorphous or semi-crystalline thermoplastic.

Item 25. The method of item 23, wherein the first material is a solid atroom temperature and the second material is a liquid at roomtemperature.

Item 26. The method of item 23, wherein the first material has a meltingpoint that is less than a melting point of the second material.

Item 27. The method of item 23, wherein a melting point of the firstmaterial is about 20° F. to about 70° F. less than a melting point ofthe second material.

Item 28. The method of item 23, wherein the first material comprisesabout 85 wt % to about 97 wt % of a base resin.

Item 29. The method of item 23, wherein the first material comprises abase resin, and the second material comprises a colorant that has amelting point similar to that of the base resin.

Item 30. The method of item 23, wherein the first material comprises abase resin, and further comprising a third material comprising a highmelt streaker of a same polymer group as that of the base resin, and thethird material melts at a higher temperature than that of the baseresin.

Item 31. The method of item 30, further comprising a blend of the highmelt streaker and a fourth material, the fourth material comprising astandard melt streaker of a same polymer group as that of the baseresin, and the fourth material melts at a temperature between those ofthe base resin and the high melt streaker.

Item 32. The method of item 29, wherein the commingled flow comprisesabout 0.1% to about 5% colorant.

Item 33. The method of item 30, wherein the commingled flow comprisesabout 0.1% to about 5% of the high melt streaker.

Item 34. The method of item 31, wherein the commingled flow comprisesabout 0.5% to about 5% of the blend.

Item 35. The method of item 31, wherein the blend is in a ratio of about30/70 to about 50/50 of the high melt streaker and the standard meltstreaker, respectively.

Item 36. The method of item 31, wherein the base resin is polypropylene,the melting point of the high melt streaker is at least about 30° F.higher than that of the base resin, and the melting point of thestandard melt streaker is at least about 20° F. higher than that of thebase resin.

Item 37. The method of item 23, wherein the building product is a shakeresembling a cedar shake tile and having a wood grain direction, or aroofing tile having the wood grain direction, and the contrastingstreaks in the shake are substantially parallel to the wood graindirection.

Item 38. The method of item 23, wherein the gates are spaced apart fromeach by no more than about 100 mm, no more than about 90 mm, or no morethan about 80 mm.

Item 39. The method of item 23, wherein the gates are located on asingle side of the perimeter of the injection mold.

Item 40. The method of item 23, wherein the injection mold comprises acavity located within the perimeter, the cavity is generally in a shapeof a flat panel, the flat panel has a largest dimension, and each of thegates is located within about one-fourth of the largest dimension fromthe perimeter of the injection mold.

Item 41. The method of item 23, wherein at least one of the gates is anedge gate.

Item 42. The method of item 40, wherein step (c) comprises substantiallylinear commingled flow through the flat panel of the cavity away fromthe gates.

Item 43. The method of item 23, further comprising forming injectionmolded vestiges in the molded building product, all of the injectionmolded vestiges are located adjacent the perimeter, and the injectionmolded vestiges comprise the locations at which the commingled flowentered the injection mold through the gates.

Item 44. The method of item 43, further comprising the step of trimmingthe molded building product after step (d) such that the trimmed moldedbuilding product has no projecting injection molded vestiges.

Item 45. An injection molded product, comprising:

-   -   a shingle resembling a cedar shingle tile formed from an        amorphous or semi-crystalline thermoplastic and having a wood        grain direction;    -   streaks in the shingle that are substantially parallel to the        wood grain direction;

the streaks extend through an interior of the shingle and appear ascontrasting streaks on an exterior of the shingle to form a variegatedwood grain appearance; and

an injection molded vestige in the shingle, the injection molded vestigeis located adjacent a perimeter of the shingle, and the injection moldedvestige comprises the location at which material entered an injectionmold through a gate.

Item 46. The injection molded product of item 45, wherein the shingle istrimmed such that the trimmed shingle has no projecting injection moldedvestiges.

Item 47. The injection molded product of item 45, wherein the shinglecomprises a single cedar shingle tile.

Item 48. The injection molded product of item 45, wherein the shinglecomprises a plurality of tiles that appear to be separated from eachother but are not separated from each other by tile separations along atleast one side edge or at least one end edge thereof.

Item 49. The injection molded product of item 48, wherein at least twoof the plurality of tiles appear to be at least partially overlappingeach other.

This written description uses examples to disclose the embodiments,including the best mode, and also to enable those of ordinary skill inthe art to make and use the invention. The patentable scope is definedby the claims, and may include other examples that occur to thoseskilled in the art. Such other examples are intended to be within thescope of the claims if they have structural elements that do not differfrom the literal language of the claims, or if they include equivalentstructural elements with insubstantial differences from the literallanguages of the claims.

Note that not all of the activities described above in the generaldescription or the examples are required, that a portion of a specificactivity may not be required, and that one or more further activitiesmay be performed in addition to those described. Still further, theorder in which activities are listed are not necessarily the order inwhich they are performed.

In the foregoing specification, the concepts have been described withreference to specific embodiments. However, one of ordinary skill in theart appreciates that various modifications and changes can be madewithout departing from the scope of the invention as set forth in theclaims below. Accordingly, the specification and figures are to beregarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense, and allsuch modifications are intended to be included within the scope ofinvention.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of features is notnecessarily limited only to those features but may include otherfeatures not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” refers to an inclusive-or and not to an exclusive-or. For example,a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true(or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or notpresent) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (orpresent).

Also, the use of “a” or “an” are employed to describe elements andcomponents described herein. This is done merely for convenience and togive a general sense of the scope of the invention. This descriptionshould be read to include one or at least one and the singular alsoincludes the plural unless it is obvious that it is meant otherwise.

Benefits, other advantages, and solutions to problems have beendescribed above with regard to specific embodiments. However, thebenefits, advantages, solutions to problems, and any feature(s) that maycause any benefit, advantage, or solution to occur or become morepronounced are not to be construed as a critical, required, or essentialfeature of any or all the claims.

After reading the specification, skilled artisans will appreciate thatcertain features are, for clarity, described herein in the context ofseparate embodiments, may also be provided in combination in a singleembodiment. Conversely, various features that are, for brevity,described in the context of a single embodiment, may also be providedseparately or in any subcombination. Further, references to valuesstated in ranges include each and every value within that range.

What is claimed is:
 1. An injection molded product, comprising: ashingle resembling a cedar shingle tile formed from an amorphous orsemi-crystalline thermoplastic and having a wood grain direction;streaks in the shingle that are substantially parallel to the wood graindirection, wherein the streaks extend through an interior of the shingleand appear as contrasting streaks on an exterior of the shingle to forma variegated wood grain appearance; and an injection molded vestige inthe shingle, wherein the injection molded vestige is located adjacent toa perimeter of the shingle, and the injection molded vestige comprises alocation at which material entered an injection mold through a gate. 2.The injection molded product of claim 1, wherein the shingle is trimmedsuch that the trimmed shingle has no projecting injection moldedvestige.
 3. The injection molded product of claim 1, wherein the shinglecomprises a single cedar shingle tile.
 4. The injection molded productof claim 1, wherein the shingle comprises a plurality of tiles thatappear to be separated from each other but are not separated from eachother by tile separations along at least one side edge or at least oneend edge thereof.
 5. The injection molded product of claim 4, wherein atleast two of the plurality of tiles appear to be at least partiallyoverlapping each other but are not actually overlapping each other. 6.The injection molded product of claim 1, wherein the shingle comprises afirst material and a second material and both the first and secondmaterials are an amorphous or semi-crystalline thermoplastic, or athermoset material.
 7. The injection molded product of claim 6, whereinthe first material is a solid at room temperature and the secondmaterial is a liquid at room temperature.
 8. The injection moldedproduct of claim 7, wherein the melting point of the first material isabout 20° F. to about 70° F. less than the melting point of the secondmaterial.
 9. The injection molded product of claim 6, wherein the firstmaterial is a liquid at room temperature and the second material is aliquid at room temperature.
 10. The injection molded product of claim 6,wherein the first material is a solid at room temperature and the secondmaterial is a solid at room temperature.
 11. The injection moldedproduct of claim 1, wherein the shingle comprises multiple vestiges andthe vestiges are spaced apart from each other by no more than about 100mm.
 12. The injection molded product of claim 11, wherein the vestigesare located on opposing sides of the perimeter of the shingle.
 13. Theinjection molded product of claim 11, wherein the shingle is generallyin a shape of a flat panel, the flat panel has a largest dimension, andeach of the vestiges is located within about one-fourth of the largestdimension from the perimeter of the shingle.
 14. The injection moldedproduct of claim 13, further comprising streaks in the shingle that aresubstantially parallel to the wood grain direction.
 15. The injectionmolded product of claim 14, wherein the streaks extend through aninterior of the shingle.
 16. The injection molded product of claim 15,wherein the streaks appear as contrasting streaks on an exterior of theshingle to form a variegated wood grain appearance.
 17. The injectionmolded product of claim 1, wherein the shingle further comprises ahanger portion and the vestige is located within the hanger portion ofthe shingle.
 18. An injection molded product, comprising: a shingleresembling a cedar shingle tile formed from an amorphous orsemi-crystalline thermoplastic and having a wood grain direction; and aninjection molded vestige in the shingle, wherein the injection moldedvestige is located adjacent to a perimeter of the shingle, and whereinthe injection molded vestige comprises a location at which materialentered an injection mold through a gate to form the shingle.
 19. Aninjection molded product, comprising: a shingle resembling a cedarshingle tile having a wood grain direction streaks in the shingle thatare substantially parallel to the wood grain direction; a hangerportion; and an injection molded vestige in the shingle, wherein theinjection molded vestige is located in the hanger portion of theshingle, and wherein the injection molded vestige comprises a locationat which material entered an injection mold through a gate.
 20. Theinjection molded product of claim 19, comprising another injectionmolded vestige formed in the shingle, wherein the other injection moldedvestige is formed in an edge of the hanger portion of the shingle.